While It Lasts
by Psychedelic Dust Bunny
Summary: /You’re only a kid once, Kakashi… You don’t get second chances./ Minato tries to convince young Kakashi to act his age with some... unsettling results. /What do you know! You know nothing about me! Nothing!/ One-shot for now.


**AN: I hope you like this one-shot XD. (Though it's not as good as my other one-shot 'Shattering Mirror'). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

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Minato grinned as he held up his melting, double chocolate ice-cream cone in his gloved hand. Chocolate chunks stuck out in various places inside the brown, frozen dairy product. The melted liquid slid down the frozen treat onto his gloved hands, creating a sticky mess. His smile grew wider as he watched Rin, a young kunoichi with brown hair and smiling, brown eyes, lick her own strawberry cone. Her face was bright with delight. He smiled at her as he asked Obito, the Uchiha of the group with brown, messy hair and orange goggles, to hold his own ice cream along with the boy's. He pulled out his worn, grey wallet to pay the old man at the ice-cream parlour. The man nodded his thanks, greying hair falling into his wrinkled face. Obito handed him back his ice cream and he happily began to eat it, willing all the horrors of the ongoing war from his mind.

The sun shone brightly that sweltering, hot morning on the busy village as Minato, still happily eating the frozen treat, now half gone, observed the way Obito acted around Rin. The boy obviously had a crush on her. It was then that he noticed his prodigy standing off to the side with a scowl firmly fixed in place. He was holding his half melted, white, vanilla ice cream cone as far away from him as he possibly could, looking at it as if it was some strange, foreign alien. His tilted, silver hair reflected the bright rays from the sun and his dark eyes glittered with a bemused look. His gaze darkened as his eyes met Minato's blue ones.

"_What _am I supposed to do with this _garbage_?"

He held up the cone as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his free hand. Everyone looked at the younger boy with shock. How could he _not _like ice cream!? The team's sensei sighed. The kid needed to lighten up a little… He grinned, ignoring the boy's sharp tone of voice.

"Oh come on Kakashi! Try it! It tastes really good, I promise!"

The masked Chuunin glared and shoved his cone into his sensei's chest. The ice cream smeared onto the Jounin's green flak jacket, leaving a wet, white mark. The blonde (and his students) gave a startled look as he said coldly,

"Then _you _can have it."

Minato took his cone before he pulled his gloved hand away and crossed his arms against his chest. How dare that idiot. He wasn't a blasted kid anymore. He narrowed his eyes as Minato sighed. He turned away from the man and watched, annoyed by his teammates as they chattered loudly. They were talking about their latest mission, in which they had delivered an important document to one of Konoha's outposts. Why couldn't they be quieter? If they had been on a mission, they would have been heard and promptly killed on the spot… that is, if the enemies decided not to torture the two to get information. The goggle wearing Uchiha looked at him before turning away with a look of irritation. The boy shouldn't even be a Ninja. He's not qualified; too emotional in his opinion. Emotions lead to the failure of a mission. A failure would be a black mark on your record and a disgrace to your name. A tanned hand touched him on the shoulder before a sad face appeared within his line of vision.

"Kakashi…"

He snapped at the older man. He was not in the mood for his cheerfulness. He needed to get home and train for his upcoming Jounin exam. Failure wasn't an option. That would mean he was weak.

Just like his pathetic father…

"_What_?"

His voice was harsh, annoyance fuelling it. Konoha's Yellow Flash looked him straight in the eye. The man's treats had disappeared. They were probably with Obito. He shot him a cold glare, dark eyes glittering angrily, daring him to tick him off more than he already was. An angry Hatake was not to be underestimated. Tense silence hovered over them, broken only by their teammates' incessant babble in the background. He waited a moment, debating whether or not to just leave and abandon his teacher. The man wasn't worth his time. A civilian carrying multiple bags brushed past them, looking at them with interest. He sneered at the man.

"You should act your age… Kakashi! You're only a kid for a few, short years. You need to enjoy your childhood while it lasts!"

That's it. He was leaving. He tore away from his sensei's firm grasp and started walking away. His sensei's touch lingered on his shoulder, missing the loss of unfamiliar contact. Angry, he looked over his shoulder, his face obscured behind a navy mask.

"I'm not a kid and I will never be one, sensei…" He paused to stop himself from insulting the man, "I'll never have a 'childhood.' I'm a Shinobi. _You_ of all people should know that."

He knew that right now his sensei's sharp, blue eyes were staring sadly at his retreating back, trying to tell him that he could be both a child and a warrior at the same time; like that could ever happen. He could feel Minato's gaze on the back of his head, making him uncomfortable, but it wasn't enough to make him turn around and apologise. Nothing would ever make him do that. Kicking a small rock that was in his way, sending it clattering to the ground a few metres away from him, he prepared to shunshin away to his apartment. He came to a stop and gathered up his chakra. His sensei's saddened voice called back to him, begging for him to listen, as the man took a few strides towards his short form.

"I hope, in the future, that you won't regret your choices… You're only a kid once, Kakashi… You don't get second chances. Think about your actions and how you make other's feel. Do you think your father would be proud of you acting like this? Nothing more than a tool for the village? You are just a kid, Kakashi, not an adult! You can't go on like this! It's not right for someone of your age! Thirteen is still too young! Heck, even thirty is still too young! A kid should be a kid while they can. _You _should be a kid."

It was the wrong thing to say as Minato soon realised when Kakashi sent him such a potent glare that the man froze. A cool breeze ruffled silver and blonde hair, chilling the two down slightly, as the Chuunin turned to look at his sensei. His face was twisted into a look of rage rarely seen on the young boy. His fists were clenched at his sides, itching to pull out the short blade strapped to his back. He shouted, something that he never did, drawing in his teammates' attention.

"What do _you_ know?! _Nothing!_ You know _nothing_ about me! _Nothing!_ You don't know what has happened to me! _None_ of you do!"

He waved his hand in the general direction of his shocked comrades, before he continued, releasing suppressed emotions for the first time since he was eight. Such anger and sorrow… so much that it was painfully noticeable in the usually stoic boy's covered face and eyes. He was pale; almost sickly so, with it. His dark eyes glinted with something unknown, reflecting the sun's light. Dark clothing contrasted sharply with his visible skin. He took a step forward, making his fellow ninja step back.

"You don't know what it's like to be me! You all have family and friends you can all go crying and running to like the cowards you are with your pathetic 'problems'! They'll pat you on the head and tell you how proud of you they are and buy you lots of treats and candy! Whatever you want! You don't have to go home to an empty complex full of angry memories that make you want to throw up! You don't have a traitor for a father! You don't-"

He fell to his knees, painfully clutching his silver hair. His eyes were clenched shut as he tried to go on before finding he couldn't. His throat felt raw and sore from all of the yelling he had done. He fell forward to the dirty road. He released his hair and saved himself. The ground was hot enough that it felt like it was burning his calloused hands. Small rocks dug into them, as his shoulders shook with tearless sobs. They didn't know anything!

Obito stood, paralysed, as he stared, eyes wide with shock. What had he just witnessed? Was this the real Kakashi? Minato shook himself mentally as he slowly, carefully, took a step closer to the young boy on the ground. Kakashi's arms gave out and he fell to the ground. A voice called out to him, soothingly, before he felt a hand touch him on the shoulder, offering him silent comfort.

"Kakashi…"

Slowly he opened his eyes and caught sight of his kneeling teacher. The man looked like he regretted his previous actions. Obito and Rin were staring at him like he was some strange _thing_. His sensei whispered so quietly that he almost didn't hear it, even with his sensitive ears.

"I'm sorry…"

He recoiled from the man. Anger returning. He didn't want their pity. He scrambled up off the floor and with one last heart-freezing look directed at Minato, who was, by now standing, and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. The wind that picked up from his sudden disappearance, messed up the man's hair even more as he stood with an arm in front of him, tanned fingers outstretched over the empty space Kakashi had just recently occupied. Minato stood there for a moment, wondering whether or not to find the boy, before he took his hand back. He would let the boy be. The Hatake wouldn't appreciate it if he came to him now. The cold boy wouldn't like the fact that he just showed a sign of 'weakness' in front of his team. He pulled Obito and Rin over to the side and warned them never to mention what had happened there. It was to be as if Kakashi's breakdown had never happened. Hesitantly, they agreed. After all, Kakashi wasn't the type to take this recent happening lightly. He was probably beating himself up about it already and if word spread… Minato turned to leave.

"Training will be a little later tomorrow than usual. Kakashi needs some time alone."

Kakashi wouldn't show up the next day or the next. When he finally did, he was colder and more distant than before. He wouldn't talk to Minato and Rin anymore than what was necessary and would be even crueller to Obito, insulting him and calling him trash.

He acted as if the event had never happened.

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**AN: So… what do you think? Good? Bad? Neutral? I'm sorry that Kakashi is a little OOC and that, most likely, this story was a little confusing on who's point of view it was on.**


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